Max McDaniels
Max McDaniels is a student at Rowan and a member of the Red Branch. He is the son of Lugh Lámhfhada and Deirdre Fallow. Max is the main protaganist of the series. Appearance He also has a thin scar on his face from his time training with Scathach. Personality Max is brave and always eager to help but gets angry quickly, which fuels the Old Magic in his veins. When angry, his body trembles which is often a prelude to an astonishing burst of action. He is proud, and unwilling to show weakness. He is also couragous and loyal, willing to do the right thing. An example of this is his immediate defense of his recruiter, Nigel Bristow, in the last of the Potentials tests. He is impetous, not necessarily thinking of the consequences of each action; when he left Prusias' Games, he was not thinking of the fact that it left his superiors looking incompetent. His pride leaves him easily goaded into spur-of-the-moment actions which he sometimes regrets later. As the series progresses, he matures greatly. He has better control of his emotions so that they doesn't interfere with his duties and responsibilities. He has good leadership abilities and has a strong sense of justice. He is also morally civilized and polite, as pointed out by Scathach. He can be a bit oblivious to hints given to him from his friends. He says what he thinks, though not always thinking about whether he should say it or not. Background Max was supposedly the son of Brynn McDaniels and Scott McDaniels. However, it is later revealed that his biological father is Lugh Lámhfhada, and that he is a demigod. Even in his childhood his being special was hinted as he used to get sudden attacks and headaches from the surge of the Old Magic within him. He and his family led a quiet life in Chicago, Illinois, up until the day Brynn McDaniels disappeared in the car, leaving no trace behind. Due to the sudden disappearence of his mother, Max's childhood is tormented by the other antagonistic characterstics. He usually got into fights with bullies teasing him for his mother's absence. He would beat them up badly for saying so. One day, Max and his father visit a museum situated nearby, where he encounters Peter Varga. Once inside the museum, owing to certain coincidences, he ends up inside a small room, where he encounters a tapestry of the Cattle Raid of Cooley. Plot The Hound of Rowan Max’s father runs into an acquaintance of his when he and Max travel together to celebrate His mother's birthday at her favorite museum, even though she is gone. Beforehand Max encounters a strange person with scary green and white eyes. Things get worse in the museum where he’s stalked by the man and enters a mysterious room to escape him. Where he finds an ancient tapestry depicting Cuchulain, his brother. He learns later on that seeing the tapestry was proof of his magic and after a series of trouble, hysterias and tests he enters Rowan Academy. He meets his roommate David Menlo and also a Lymrill, Nick, who chooses to become his charge. (Basically a charge is a life-long bond between magical animal and human student) He creates a history by defeating the second year students in a match. Jealousy arises whithin Alex Munoz, a second year student, who starts a fight with Max. Through this both of them get punished by Miss Boon to clean the Kestrel. There they get kidnapped by two vyes who had attacked Max before. They are taken to a hideout where one of the blacksmiths of the fallen school Solas talks to them. Alex is persuaded to join them whereas Max is reluctant to. As they use Max’s blood to revive back their master Astaroth, Peter Varga saves him, though Astaroth gets revived. Through his body amplification he carries all the kidnapped students back to the surface and kills the vyes. He saves Peter from near death, then waits with Peter and the children for the help Peter had called. Once he's at Rowan again he becomes a hero who had saved a lot of people, though some of the second year antagonize him for leaving Alex Munoz back in the dungeon despite the fact that he didn't want to. Alex is revitalizes and joins Astaroth. The Second Siege It is later revealed by Astaroth that he is not actually Scott McDaniel's son and that his name is also false. Even though he initially doesn't believe it, he knows it's true when he meets Lugh in the Sidh, and finds his true father to be Lugh himself. This is later confirmed by his mother as well, who explains that Lugh came to her in a dream and told her that she'd give birth to a son of his, who would become stronger than anyone else. At first everyone thought he was Cuchulain, the Irish hero, but he is only his half brother. He trains with Scatach, before leaving with David Menlo to obtain the Book of Origins. Later, during the Siege of Rowan he antagonizes the Astaroth`s army for several days before being cornered in the ditch, where Max kills all of the vyes. Afterwards, Astaroth and Max reach a agreement to surrender the Book of Thoth in return for Connor Lynch and Mrs. Ritcher. The Fiend and the Forge Max greets the Demon Prusias, showing proud defiance by refusing to bow. Later, he is angered by a dryad who calls Astaroth the Great God. He is able to free the Former Workshop Director from the hags. He is grief stricken when his father was killed. Seeking revenge, he borrows the Ormenheid, a ship that sails own its own and can be shrunken down to the size of a matchbox. He takes residence in a farm, after rescuing the children and defeating the monster in the well. He is horrified to find that the monster was once human. Once Prusias finds out Max`s location, he takes him to Blys where he forces Max to fight in order for admittance for several humans outside the doors. After taking the alias of Bragha Run, he defeats a grymloch and his clone where he is declared by Prusias the champion of Blys. Later, Prusias wants Max to attack Lord Aamon, but when Max refuses to relent he is outraged and nearly kills Max. He orders his imp, Mr. Bonn to take Max away. During Max`s imprisonment, Astaroth visits Max, and reveals that he knows about David`s plan to poison him with blood petals, revealing his immunity to the venom. Later, Cooper rescues Max. Max journeys with David to the Isle of Man, where David convinces the Formorian to reforge the gae bolga. As Max had suspected, he learns that the gae bolga is a live thing, three locks of Morrigan`s hair. When the Formorian fails, Nick sacrifices himself and his quills are used to strengthen the blade. Max, David, and Toby journeys to Walpurgisnacht where Toby masquerades as Cambylla. Max is afraid, knowing that Astorath knows of David`s plan. However, he is surprised when Astaroth is weakened, and during the commotion that follows Max avenges his father and inflicts wounds on Prusias with his gae bolga. When Max comes to, he finds that Walpurgisnacht was a rescue mission. Elias Bram had returned. The Maelstrom After Walpurgisnacht, Max had journied to black markets for valuable merchandise, and information. When he returns, he is confronted by several refugees, before meeting Lord Naberius to discuss Rowan`s relationship with the king of Blys. Lord Naberius says that they will make peace with Rowan-as long as Rowan surrenders the gae bolga and Elias Bram. He also says that Max`s name had been written in the Gray Book and that the Atropos will target Max. He meets with the Archmage who tells him that the Atropos may attempt to posses his friends in order to kill Max. Already, William Cooper and Ben Polk had disappeared-it is likely the Atropos is behind this. Soon, Elias Bram`s words prove true-Rolf Luger, possessed by a demon, tries to kill Max but is killed by Umbra. David locates the demon and binds him to a ring to warn Max of any danger. Max leaves Rowan with David and Toby vis tunnel in order to infiltrate Blys, where he talks to Madam Petra as goblins. She reveals the Workshop`s secret weapon, the pinlegs. However, the Atropos had already hired Max`s clones in order to kill Max, and they barely escape with their life. Madam Petra says that Max owes her a new estate. They take refuge, but not before long the Atropos catches up with Max and nearly kills him, if it wasn't for David. They barely escape Yuga, and Max was near fatally wounded. Luckily he recovers. After Max leaves the infirmary, he finds Julie Teller, who was still angry Max had left her. She was going to marry Thomas Polk. They continue experiments with the pinlegs, and find they will be used to summon dreadnoughts. War is declared, and he is confronted by Astaroth who offers him a deal to save Rowan, in return killing Elias Bram. He meets the sorcerer himself, who reveals the ancient history of Astaroth, and that he will offer YaYa as a steed Max becomes the commander of the Trench Rats, who will hold Trench 19. They are the dregs, who are incompetent or unruly, but their abilities blossom under Max`s leadership. He also finds that Umbra was actually Scatach, who risked her immortality for Max. They hold the barrier successfully, and the enemy never laid foot within the campus. The victory is short lived, as Max finds that Scathach likely perished in the battle. The situation worsens when Prusias released the dreadnoughts, who nearly lay waste to Rowan. Max is compelled to summon Astaroth, but David manages to find the dreadnought`s fatal flaw and they finally triumph. He is last seen journeying with David, Lucia, Cynthia, Bob, Mrs.Boon, Toby, and William Cooper in the Ormenheid. The Red Winter Abilities Max is by far not the best in Mystics. However, he is an elite warrior. He was trained in the Sidh by Scathach and is a member of the Red Branch. Proficient in the use of many forms of weapons, Max prefers bladed weapons, particularly his gae bolga. He has been seen wielding a Gladius and was able to use it profieciently. It is also shown that he is talented, if not an expert, knife fighter, as he was also seen wielding a short knife to save Bob from Vyes. He is such a master at using bladed weapons that he can win battles with demons, even if they're over twice his size. Max, before getting the gae bolga in hand, or even any real weapon, he had a way of protecting himself. He used a different kind of mystics for himself known as the body amplification technique. He could amplify his body and increase his speed to the point where he could outrun an Olympic athlete. Max has large stores of Old Magic which are brought to life under stressful or life threatening situations. There seems to be no limit to his power and it just grows to match his situation. Along with his Old Magic and the gae bolga in hand he was stated to be nearly invinvincible as none of the demons could land their attack on him. Max also is able to heal quickly from wounds. One such example is when he survives a fatal dose of tranquilizer bullets, and when he is poisoned by his clones. He recovered nearly instantly from a scratch he received from Circe. Relationships David Menlo David is Max's roommate and one of his best friends. David is also known as the "Little Sorcerer," and he has had two heart transplants. Nick Max is the caretaker of Nick the Lyrmrill. He adopted Nick in The Hound of Rowan and as taken care of him through the two following books. Nick is very close to Max, as it is shown through various examples. Nick is always happy and excited when Max comes to feed and play with him. Also, Max would not leave without Nick in The Second Siege and both of them are very happy to see each other after months of being apart in The Fiend and the Forge. Nick sacrifices himself in The Fiend and the Forge so that gae bolga can be rightly repaired by the Fomorian. Julie Teller Max's girlfriend was Julie Teller, who is two years older than him. In The Second Siege Julie is visited by Mr. Sikes, who tells her that terrible things will happen if she continues with Max. Confused and angry that she ignores him, oblivious Max asks Mr. Sikes to wipe Julie out of his memory. In The Fiend and the Forge, however, they are together again, until Julie's parents kindly ask him to leave her, for her own good, and he agrees it's for the best, much to Juie`s dismay. Scathach Category:Characters Category:Students Category:Faculty Category:Major Characters